Dental mirror



P 1961 H. FREEDMAN 3,001,288

DENTAL MIRROR Filed June 17, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet. 1

SYN. MOTOR WATER CONTROL VALVE Fig.1.

I MIRROR l w 2 GIL DRILL l wATER TO IIIIIRRoR ONLY NORMALLY cLosED 99SOLENOID VALVE 2 3 HEATER AIR SUPPLY J 1 29. 3.

TO DRILL AND IvIIRRoR F -.4 6

FOOT OPERATED 25 SWITCH INVENTOR b YMA/ FREEDMAN N BY flATTORNEY Sept.26, 1961 H. FREEDMAN DENTAL MIRROR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 17, 1958INVENTOR M/I/V HPEEDMA/V BY Z{M40n/ ATTORNEY Sept. 26, 1961 H. FREEDMAN3,001,288

DENTAL MIRROR Filed June 17, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR M4/vHPEEDMA/V ATTORNEY United States Patent Filed June 17, 1958, Ser. No.742,684 1 Claim. (Cl. 32-69) This invention relates to'dental appliancesand more particularly to an apparatus by which the mirror employed indental work, as well as the area in which the work is being performedwill be kept clear of residue dislodged by the drilling operation.

With modern high-speed drilling, a granular paste composed of toothstructure, enamel, dentine, decay and filling material is developedaround the working area. This pasty residue so developed coats themirror being used by the dentist so that while he is using thehigh-speed drill the visibility aiforded by the mirror becomes verypoor.

It is also of theutmost importance that the dentist should be able toperform this cleansing and cooling operation without having torelinquish the drill while doing so.

During the drilling operation the dentists attention should not bediverted by irritating extraneous manipulations. It is importanttherefore, that the manipulation of the cleansing and cooling device bemade as comfortable and easy for the dentist as possible so that he willnot be called upon to perform any manipulations of the tool differingappreciably from those required by the conventional drill, it should besensitive to the hand and rendered more or less automatic.

It is therefore among the objects of the present invention to provide anair and water spray apparatus for use in a dental drilling operation andby means of which the work area will be cooled and cleansed while themirror will be kept free of dislodged material to thereby aitord amaximum of visibility for the dentist.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterindicated which will be highly responsive to the demands of the dentistso that the operation there of will become practically reflexive andwhich will fit in the hand of the dentist so that it can be manipulatedwith only a slight movement of the hand or fingers.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for controllingthe spray, or to have it intermittently operative for predeterminedperiods.

Another object is to provide heating means by which the mirror beingused is preheated prior to insertion in the mouth of a patient.

Still another object of the invention is to provide directional controlmeans for a plurality of sprays emanating from a nozzle whereby onespray reaches the mirror and another reaches the point of operation.

With these and other objects in View, I have devised the arrangement ofparts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claimappended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the combination air and water systememployed to keep the dental mirror and work area free of the drillingresidue;

FIG. 2 is a detail view, partly in section, of a cut-off valve employedin the above system;

FIG. 3 is a detail sectional view of a water container and associatedair control;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG.3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the mirror and control device;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view of a portion of the device of FIG. 6, but showing thecontrol in its operative position;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 8-8 of FIG.5, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 9-9 of FIG.5, looking in the direction of the arrows;

\FIG. 10 is a detail view of the mixing nozzle employed as part ofthestructure shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 11-11 ofFIG. 10, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a modifiedform of nozzle;

FIG. 13 is a front elevational view of the same;

FIG. 14 is a detail view in perspective of a modified form of spraydivider.

In FIG. 1 is shown the complete apparatus, and the same includes drill 1of known type and which is air driven, receiving air under pressure froma source of compressed air (not shown) but supplying the same throughpiping or tubing 2 through a normally-closed solenoid valve indicated at3. The valve 3 is electrically connected to a source of current and itsoperation may be controlled by the foot switch shown at 25 and by Iotherswitch means to be described. In addition to sup:

plying air to the drill 1, the piping or tubing 2 also supplies an airflow to the mirror 4 through a branch pipe 2a. IWater is supplied to thedrill 1 only, the water being under pressure and being supplied throughpipe 5 from a suitable source. A second water supply is piped to themirror 4 only, through a pipe 6 and the flow therethrough is controlledby a control valve 7 arranged in the pipe 6 between the mirror and aWater-containing vessel or bottle 8.

The mirror 4 and its associated elements are shown in detail in FIGS. 5to 9 inclusive, and it will be therein noted that a pipe 10 is connectedat one of its ends to the air supply branch tube 2a and is connected atits opposite eud to a mixing nozzle 11, shown in detail in FIGS. 10 and11, and from which the sprays of air and water are ejected. The mirror 4is supported at the end of a stem 70 which is longitudinally andtelescopically adjustable in a supporting tube 71. A clamp 72 holds themirror in the desired position of extension out of the tube 71.

At its end remote from the mirror 4, the tube 71 fits within the end ofa sleeve 73 which is supported in a block 74, and said sleeve contains amicro switch 12 operative to control the solenoid valve 3 and thusregulate the air supply to the drill as well as to the mixing nozzle 11.Said switch 12 has a control button 75 adapted, for manual control, bydepression of a lengthy flat spring 15 secured at one end, as indicatedat 76, to the tube 71.

The water supply passing through the tube or pipe 6 reaches the mixingnozzle 11 through a tube 13 connected at one end to the tube or pipe 6,and having its other end connected to the mixing nozzle 11. Provided inthe water pipe 13 is an air vent opening 16 which is adapted for closurewhen required by the head of a valve 17 having its stem 77 secured tothe spring 15 so that when the spring 15 is manually pressed it willdepress the switch button 75 and then seat the valve 17 over the opening16. The tripping of the switch 12 and the seating of the valve 17 takeplace in sequence. That is to say, initial manual pressure on the spring15 will first trip the switch 12, causing the solenoid valve 3 tofunction to allow air to flow, and increased pressure on the spring 15will close the air vent 16 by valve 17, allowing air to flow to thenozzle 11 and pick up water at the nozzle.

The nozzle 11, shown in detail in FIGS. and 11, is divided to form twojets, the jet shown at 18 receiving air from passage 18a and water frompassage 18b, while the second jet shown: at19, receives air and waterrespectively through passages'19a and 1%. Jet 18 is direeted toward thetooth being operated on and jet 19 is directed toward the mirror 4 tocleanse the same. The flow from the respective jets is indicated by thedotted lines and arrows in FIG. 6. The fluid drawn into the tube 13 bythe air flow is a mixture of air and water caused by the admission ofair through the vent 80 located around the tube 81, so that at no timeis there a column of air in the tube 13 to cause a siphon action. Theend of the tube 81 enters a longitudinally sp lit metal sleeve 82 in theadjacent end of the tube 6, the split portion of the sleeve 82 providingthe vent 80 above mentioned.

If it is desired to use the apparatus in such a manner that the air andwater sprays will be intermittently ejected and for predeterminedperiods, a ferrule 21 provided for slidable movement on the tube 13, isslid to a position where it covers the opening 16, and an arm 22provided on the valve 7, is moved from a normally inoperative position:shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 to that shown in full lines. Thisbrings the arm 22, which is spring-biased by a spring 85, toa positionwhere its outer end is engaged by a rotary cam 23 actuated by asynchronous motor 24. At this time the air valve 3 is under. the controlof the foot-operated switch 25.

As a substitute for the multi-jet nozzle 11, a single jet nozzle, suchas shown at 86 in FIGS. 12 and 13 might be used. When such a nozzleisused, a deflector 60 is fitted on the nozzle. Said, deflector, shownin detail in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14, has a pair of arms 87 which embracethe nozzle and removably mount the deflector on it. A curved deflectorplate 88 forming a part of the deflector, is formed with a hole 61 sopositioned relatively to the spray outlet of the nozzle that it permitssome of the spray to be directed through it toward the tooth beingoperated on, while the remainder of the spray will be deflected, asindicated at 62, toward the mirror to cleanse the same.

Having described an embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that thesame is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover allstructures coming withinthe scopeof the annexed claim.

What I claim is:

In a dental appliance, a supporting block, air and water supply tubesextended through the block, a sleeve mounted in the block, a switchcontained in the sleeve, a hollow post fitted at one end into thesleeve, a mirror adjustably mounted in said post, the ends of the airand water supply tubes being connected to a spray nozzle locatedadjacent to the mirror, said nozzle having means to divide the spray ofair and water into two streams and to direct one stream toward themirror and to direct a second stream toward the area of tooth-operation,the postbeing provided with a movable switch arm operative on theswitch, the water supply tube having anropening and the switch armcarrying a valve for closing said opening after the said arm is moved toswitch-actuating position, and an electrically-controlled valve forcontrolling the flow of air through the air supply tube, the operationof said valve being controlled by the switch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,660,870 Fust Feb. 28, 1928 2,731,722 Wlen Jan. 24, 1956 FOREIGNPATENTS 257,846 Italy Mar. 20, 1928

